


Don't Read Into It

by tabbytabbytabby



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [5]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Communication, Cuddling & Snuggling, Derek Hale & Theo Raeken Friendship, Developing Relationship, Feels, First Kiss, Good Theo Raeken, Happy Ending, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Post-Canon, Rebuilding Trust, Talking, Threats of Violence, Understanding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-06-30 23:38:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15762087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabbytabbytabby/pseuds/tabbytabbytabby
Summary: It's not a surprise when Stiles shows up to where he's staying at Derek's loft with a threat on the tip of his tongue. Everything that happens after is.





	Don't Read Into It

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DemonzDust](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemonzDust/gifts).



> For DemonzDust who wanted: Knife to the Throat + Steo for Bad Things Happen Bingo

Theo’s not the least bit surprised when he opens front door and Stiles comes barging in. He’s been expecting it. He knew that Stiles probably wouldn’t be happy about Theo moving in with Derek in the loft, but Theo didn’t exactly have any place to stay and Derek had offered.

Derek had thrown a “Stiles is back in town!” over his shoulder before he left for work that morning. Theo had felt his stomach drop a little. It had been months since he last saw Stiles. He’d glared at Theo and told him he better not screw up or he’d make sure when Theo got put into the ground again he wasn’t coming back.

Theo hasn’t done anything wrong since then. He’s been the perfect model citizen. He’s working part time at the Sheriff’s station doing menial office tasks while trying to work on getting his GED. He’s been on his best behavior. But he knows Stiles isn’t exactly pleased about Theo living with Derek. He’d gotten a threatening voicemail the night he’d moved in warning him not to hurt Derek. If anyone else threatened Theo he would roll his eyes, but he has no doubt Stiles means what he says.

So Stiles showing up isn’t a surprise at all. He’s been expecting an in person threat ever since Derek warned him Stiles was back. He just expected Stiles to want to spend some time with his Dad and the pack first. Apparently not.

“Come on in, why don’t you?” Theo says, closing the front door and following Stiles into the living room where he’s pacing the floor.

“I have every right to be here,” Stiles says, “Derek is my friend and I’m looking out for him.”

Theo sighs, “Derek is my friend too, Stiles. But I know you came here to give your usual _‘you hurt him, I hurt you,_ ’ threat in person. So just…”

Theo’s words cut off when he finds his back pressed against Stiles’ front and knife being pressed against his throat. Stiles’ other hand is in his hair, pulling his head back to expose more of his skin. His voice is low when he speaks, holding a hint of warning, “Now isn’t exactly the time to be smarting off.”

“What are you going to do, Stiles?” Theo asks. “Are you going to slit my throat?”

“I should,” Stiles hisses, pressing the blade harder against Theo’s throat, “I should cut you open and watch you bleed out all over the rug. You’d deserve it.”

Theo wants to snark back. He wants to goad Stiles like he’s done so many times before. But he knows that’s not going to end any way except with him dead. He hates how much the thought of dying scares him. Memories of Tara hunting him down and driving her hand into his chest flash before his eyes and he shudders.

He feels the fight leave him as his shoulders sag, “You’re right. I do deserve it. If you’re going to do it, just get it over with. I’d rather not stand here waiting to be sent back to her.”

Stiles frowns and the knife drops away from his throat, “Back to _her_? What does that mean?”

“Nothing,” Theo says, putting a smirk back on his face, “But it confused you enough to get you to drop the knife, didn’t it?”

“Bullshit,” Stiles says, “Whatever that was, it wasn’t an act. I could see how afraid you were for a moment there. Where did you go?”

“To hell,” Theo says, falling back onto the couch.

“But you said her,” Stiles says, sitting down on the couch a safe distance away.

“Where did you think I went when I got put in the ground Stiles?” Theo asks, a hint of disdain in his voice. “I mean, you weren’t there to see it, but surely they told you what happened.”

“They didn’t,” Stiles says, “They just told me you were gone and weren’t a problem anymore. When you say in the ground…”

“I mean Kira opened up the ground and my sister crawled out and pulled me down to hell with her,” Theo grits out. “I spent months trapped in the same nightmare with her.”

“What did she do?” Stiles asks.

Theo lets out a bitter laugh as he looks over at him, “Why does it matter? You’re just going to send me back there.”

Stiles hand clenches and unclenches around the knife. Theo’s surprised to see hesitation in his features, “Just tell me.”

Theo almost doesn’t. He hasn’t told anyone what happened to him, except for Derek. But that had been different. Stiles hates him and could use the information against him, not that Theo will be around long enough for that to happen. “She ripped my heart out of my chest over and over and over again. It never stopped. I tried to run but she always found me. Eventually I just stopped running and let her have it. It’s hers anyway. It’s what I deserved, right?”

“It’s not,” Stiles says. Theo isn’t sure who’s surprised more by the words, Stiles or Theo. Stiles’ brow pitches as he studies Theo’s face. “Look, you were an evil bastard back then but you didn’t deserve to go through that. No one does.”

“Seriously?” Theo lets out a disbelieving laugh. “Not even 10 minutes ago you were ready to slit my throat and now suddenly you think I didn’t deserve to suffer?”

Stiles shrugs, throwing a grin in his direction, “Maybe I was testing you.”

“Uh huh,” Theo says, “And what would have happened if I failed this test?”

“I would have slit your throat and claimed self-defense,” Stiles says. “But you would have failed by lashing out at me, which you didn’t. Though I hadn’t quite expected _this_ to happen.”

“Yeah you were probably hoping I would attack you, right? Give you an excuse to get rid of me.”

“No. Actually, I wasn’t,” Stiles tells him. “Believe it or not, I do want to trust you. Liam seems to, and Derek. And Scott. I know he did before and you screwed us over but this isn’t like that. Back then I knew something was off with you. But now…”

“Now what?”

“I still think there is but it feels different,” Stiles says. “It’s not that off that’s going to have you go all murdery. It’s more like… you’re lost.”

“Astute observation,” Theo mutters, hating how easy Stiles was able to pick up on how he’s feeling. Then again, he’s not sure why he’s surprised. Stiles has always been able to read him better than anyone else. “I still don’t see why it matters to you.”

“Well we’re…” Stiles trails off, frowning down at his hands. “We were friends once. I’m not saying it will be easy, but I would like to try to be again.”

“Why? You hate me. Why would you possibly want to be my friend?”

“I don’t hate you,” Stiles whispers, “I hate what you did, but I can tell you’re not that same twisted person that you were when you came back here.”

“Yeah, now I’m just twisted in a different way,” Theo mutters.

Stiles snorts, “We’re all a little twisted. I don’t think you can live in this town and not get at least a little bit affected by the darkness. It’s just how you handle it.”

“She seem to have handled it pretty well,” Theo tells him. “I mean, considering.”

“There was a time when I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it out,” Stiles admits.

“But you did,” Theo says. He has to fight the urge to look away when he speaks again. He owes Stiles to at least be looking at him. “I know I didn’t make things easy for you.”

“That’s an understatement,” Stiles mutters.

“I know. I did a lot of bad things, things I’m not necessarily proud of. I know I’m probably never going to be able to make up for it. But I am sorry.”

Stiles stares at him for a while, his eyes move across Theo’s face, assessing him. He’s looking for a lie. Theo knows he is. Theo’s surprised when his shoulders lose a bit of their tension and he nods, “I believe you.”

Theo’s brow furrows in confusion. He hadn’t be expecting that. “You do?”

“I do,” Stiles says, “That doesn’t mean I’m ready for us to start braiding each other’s hair or singing campfire songs or any of that shit. But I do believe you’re sorry, and that you’re trying. It’s just going to take me some time, dude. Everyone else has been here to see you change and I’m just having to hear bits and pieces of it, and see Instagram posts of you like baking with Liam’s Mom or having lunch with my Dad. Which, you better not be bribing him with burgers, by the way. His heart…”

“I know,” Theo says, his lips twitching up into a smile. “When I’m there and we have lunch I make sure he eats the healthiest option. I have you coming after me for everything else. I’m not adding giving your Dad unhealthy foods to the list.”

“Huh.”

“What?”

“Nothing it’s just… if he likes you it must just be because of you, and not that you’re bribing him with food,” Stiles says.

“Well don’t sound so surprised,” Theo says, “My personality isn’t horrible.”

“No, I guess it’s not,” Stiles says, his voice quiet as he stares at Theo with something akin to wonder on his face. “You really are trying.”

It’s not a question, and all Theo can do is nod. “I am.”

Theo’s surprised when Stiles puts the knife down on the table and then settles back onto the couch, “So, want to order pizza and watch a movie?”

“What?”

“I’m starving,” Stiles says, pulling out his phone and tapping away at the screen. “And I hear there’s this new pizza place that opened up and it’s supposed to be really good.”

“It is,” Theo says, feeling perplexed by Stiles’ behavior. He’d shown up here to threaten him and now he just wants to hang out? Theo’s not sure how to handle it. “Are you sure you want to do that here? Wouldn’t you rather be with Scott or the pack?”

“I am,” Stiles says, barely glancing up from his phone. “It’s clear everyone considers you pack. So…” Stiles waves a hand in the air as if that’s supposed to explain it. When Theo just stares at him he sighs and lowers his phone, his eyes landing on Theo again. “Look, I’m trying here. We’re going to hang out and watch a movie and eat pizza, maybe play a few video games. We’ll see how it goes.”

Theo can’t see any reason to argue. If Stiles wants to stay, he’s going to whether Theo says he can or not. So he grabs the remote off the table and turns the TV and brings up Netflix. Stiles immediately reaches over and snatches the remote from his grasp with a cheeky grin.

“House guest gets to pick what we watch,” Stiles tells him.

Theo raises an eyebrow, “Shouldn’t I have an equal say then?”

Stiles waves him off, “No. It might be Derek’s place but you live here. You’re not a guest. But I am, so I get to pick the movie. Or TV show. There has to be a lot you need to watch.”

“Yeah well, the Dread Doctors didn’t exactly have cable.”

Stiles’ head snaps in his direction, “But you had a TV?”

Theo shrugs, “Only for the news. They weirdly wanted to be aware of what was happening.”

“That is not an image I needed,” Stiles says.

“And I snuck a VCR down there with some VHS tapes I got from Goodwill,” Theo says. “It was mostly war movies or Disney.”

“You watched Disney movies and still turned evil?”

Theo smirks, “I always cheered for the villains.”

Stiles rolls his eyes, “Of course you did. I bet Scar was your favorite.”

Theo stills, his breath leaving him for a moment as he watches the look of horror cross Stiles’ face as he brings his hands up to cover his mouth, “I didn’t…”

Theo shakes his head, “It’s fine, Stiles. Scar’s whole _‘I’m surrounded by idiots_ ’ line was and still is far too relatable.”

“Did you just call me an idiot?”

“Not you,” Theo says, “You’re probably the smartest member of the pack a part from Lydia and maybe Derek.”

“Damn right I am,” Stiles grins, relaxing a little at Theo’s words. “So speaking of Disney, have you watched Once Upon A Time?”

And that’s how Theo finds himself eating pizza and binge watching Once Upon a Time with Stiles. It’s surprisingly easy. He’ll make a comment about something and Stiles will chuckle and tell him he’ll just have to find out. Which is frustrating, but he is a little grateful Stiles isn’t outright spoiling everything for him.

When Stiles scoots closer during the third episode and rests his head on Theo’s shoulder, he just mumbles out a, “Don’t read too much into it. I just like to cuddle.”

Theo believes him. That doesn’t mean Theo doesn’t think about it. Especially when Stiles moves Theo’s arm until it’s around his shoulders and he can snuggle in closer. He has to fight the urge to lean down and bury his nose in Stiles’ hair or neck. It’s hard with Stiles this close and his intoxicating scent is drifting up to him.

A month later when Stiles stops Theo outside the loft and leans down to kiss him, he smiles and squeezes his hand, “That you can read into.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos/Comments make my day. ♥  
> [My tumblr](http://tabbytabbytabby.tumblr.com/)


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